The Third Lost Art
by Jennon-Donnon
Summary: Academy City and Mahora City. Technology and Culture. Science and Magic. Can both never truly coexist?
1. Intervention

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything is owned by their respective owners. Persons, events and things described herein are works of fiction; any resemblance to real things is a coincidence.

_**The Third Lost Art**_

A Crossover Fic

by: Jennon-Donnon

Academy City, a city filled with various schools and universities located on an island off the coast of Japan, was said to be the paragon of science. A look at the city's technology would make one wonder if he wasn't looking at the future; everything could easily be ahead of the rest of the world by at least 20 years. One could even say that the latest devices unveiled outside the city were made from reverse-engineering that which was already phased out in it. Truly, Academy City had a monopoly on the world's latest discoveries.

If Academy City was the City of Science, one would not need to look far to see the City of Culture. Mahora City was on yet another island in Japan. It was a city that also specialized in education and the academe. Although its own technological level is not as conspicuous as the previous city, it was using the latest that could be developed outside Academy City. However, its main focus was not scientific development, but the discovery and preservation of various cultures around the world, especially those considered as long lost. One would not be wrong if one suspected Mahora of dealing with the occult; it is inseparable from some cultures after all. In fact, there was a seemingly magical feel to the place, made stronger by the ancient World Tree smack dab in the middle of the city.

These two cities did not particularly care for each other, as although their means are the same, their goals are not. It might be said that there was no conflict of interest between the two, as they had no real need to compete for funding and resources. The two cities had developed their own almost self sustaining economies, and were enviably called ideal places to live in. When a new development or discovery is announced by either of the two, Japan benefits either way, as various corporations invest in the hopes of having a slice of the pie. It was a win-win in the eyes of the world.

What people did not know was that the two cities were embroiled in a conflict beyond mere economics. There was no outward hostility, just plain apathy and feigned ignorance. Academy City had no room to study the cultural arts in its pursuit of development, while Mahora was about rediscovery of what has been lost. At the root, their ideologies were at stake: Academy City was a city of science, Mahora was a city of magic. Science's espers cannot use magic; magicians do not have innate abilities and must rely on external sources. It is rare for the two sides to meet, especially since the esper-magician hybrid program fiasco twenty years prior.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mahora Girls' Middle School, Mahora City<strong>_

Mahora's Konoemon Konoe had been expecting this visitor ever since the latter had disappeared from the earth decades ago. The person said to be the greatest magician to have ever lived on the Old World, a person who looked neither male nor female, neither old nor young, now stood before the wizened old man. As the two regarded each other, Konoemon chuckled.

"I did not know that you could leave that city of yours whenever you wanted. What can I do for you, Mr. Aleister Crowley?"

The General Superintendent of Academy City neither smiled nor frowned, his expression remaining as calm as ever. "This regards the Magic Side, Konoe. It seems the Roman Catholic Church is attempting a World Scale Magic here in your city."

Konoemon raised an eyebrow, before brushing his beard. "Which one is it? I believe you and your Anglican allies have already dealt with two of those, and rather easily at that. La Regina del Mare Adriatica, and Croce di Pietro." He grinned and continued, "what could stop an alliance that can deal with a large scale event like those and Angel Fall?"

"That may be the case." No change of expression at all. "However, I would rather ask for your cooperation rather than act aggressively. Your city does provide some of the best scientists in my city after all." Crowley thought for a while before continuing, "this concens the Third lost art."

Konoemon was surprised. To think that the Catholics were this desperate... "I see. The balance must be preserved. What do you wish to do? The third uses magicians as focal points. I have heard your students can't use magic at all."

"For starters, let us call this a cultural exchange program."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Tokiwadai Girls' Middle School, Academy City<strong>_

"A cultural exchange program?" Mikoto Misaka had been called by the Tokiwadai principal to discuss another of Academy City's extra-curricular activities. As an esper that rose from the lowest ranks of Level 1 to the highly coveted Level 5, the brown-haired girl had always been chosen to represent the city as its public "Face". The Railgun was the best choice, for various reasons: for one, she showed that hard work paid off in the city.

"Yes. As the Ace of Tokiwadai, we expect the best from you." Tokiwadai was one of the most prestigious schools in the city, portrayed as a school for highly refined ladies with strong abilities. This was another reason why she was picked; apparently Number One and Number Two could not be relied on in times like this. As the Number Three of only seven Level 5 espers, the burden fell upon her.

"I am honored." As the principal explained the details, Mikoto's mind wandered. She had read of Mahora City, and often she wondered what studying there would be like. However, having lived in Academy City all her life, she immediately dismissed the notion.

When the principal finished, Mikoto rose and bowed before leaving. After closing the foor behind her, she sighed in relief before wondering how come the Queen was never chosen in her place. Perhaps that troublesome ability of hers would be less suitable than straight out electricity?

"Speak of the devil," Mikoto thought. In front of her was a girl with long blonde hair, with eyes that seemed to sparkle all the time. "Not to mention that figure... Is she really just in middle school?"

"Ah, it's Misaka." The smile on the Queen's face was more of a playful grin. As a telepath, it seemed she could read minds and control others at will... Except for a select few. And Mikoto just happened to be one of them. "Is this because of that vending machine again? Always a delinquent, Miss Ace?"

"Tsk, Misaki Shokuhou. What is it that you are doing here? Has the Queen's reckless use of her power finally put her in trouble with the administration?" A tic had appeared under Mikoto's eye. She had always thought of the Queen as an annoyin meddler.

"It's not like my Mental Out does not affect them either, you know? As for the reason, I believe it is the same as yours." Misaki winked. She defensively placed a hand in her bag, fiddling with something inside - as if threatening Mikoto with something, should a fight break out.

"Shokuhou, come in." The principal's voice cut the would-be fight just in time.

"Then, I'll be going. Stay sparky," Misaki said as she entered the room with a "shit-eating grin" as Mikoto called it. Mikoto fumed, but she let it go and stomped away. She would need to go to Seventh Mist later to shop for clothes.

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Certain High School, Academy City<strong>_

"Kami-yan yo!" Motoharu Tsuchimikado called over his spiky haired friend, who sighed as usual.

Touma Kamijou knew what this implied. Whenever Motoharu called him, it usually meant trouble. Every single time.

"What is it?" The annoyance sept out of his thoughts and into his words. His fellow Level 0 just grinned, before telling him the news.

"Word has it that there's trouble brewing with the Catholics again. Something about a chalice something or other."

"The seriousness of the situation doesn't match your cheerful tone."

"After all, you're being dispatched again. Aren't you glad about that right hand?"

"What misfortune." Touma looked at his right hand, the one that held the strange Imagine Breaker. It was unique in that any and all supernatural phenomena, from magic, to esper abilities, to even his own good luck, could be canceled by it. Truly a formidable power if used by the right person.

Motoharu himself isn't too bad either. He was a self-proclaimed double agent, an esper-magician hybrid. Although espers would be wounded when channeling mana, his own Auto Rebirth ability healed all wounds. He doesn't know when it could fail, though, so he keeps to underhanded methods... like manipulating Touma.

"Apparently you'll need to head to the 7th District later to meet the other participants. The cover is a cultural exchange trip."

"Can I opt out?"

"Sure, if you want to lose the chance to get extra credit. Apparently this is the only way you won't get held back this year."

"It was worth the try."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mahora Girls' Middle School<strong>_

"Ah, Mr. Negi, I have a message from the Headmaster." Takamichi T. Takahata called out to the younger boy, who had just finished teaching for the day.

"Mr. Takahata?" Negi Springfield waved farewell to some of the students before walking up to his mentor.

"He wants to put you in charge of the preparations for the Mahora-Academy Cities Cultural Exchange Festival."

"But... I don't know if I can do it..." the auburn-haired boy bit his lips, feeling a bit nervous.

"Don't worry, you have everyone's full support. The whole city is looking forward to this." Takamichi looked over to a bunch of Negi's students, who seemed to be waiting for the boy. "Your class would be willing to help, as usual. Oh, and report to the Headmaster for further instructions.

"Roger that," Negi said with a smile.

As the boy left with his students, Takamichi grinned. "An intervention, eh? "


	2. Investigation

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything is owned by their respective owners. Persons, events and things described herein are works of fiction; any resemblance to real things is a coincidence.

_**The Third Lost Art**_

A Crossover Fic

by: Jennon-Donnon

Necessarius was an integral part of the Anglican Church. Also known as the church of necessary evil, it held the responsibility whenever an incident on the Magic Side involved grimoires. It also had a hand in various magic cabals and organizations around the world, including the London Clock Tower. It follows direct orders from the Archbishop Laura Stuart, head of the Anglican Church.

Necessarius was now in a bind. One of its branches in Japan had been compromised. Fuyuki Town was said to be a ritual land for a lost form of magic, which was sealed by the 3 Churches for fear of misuse. As such, the Roman Catholics, the Anglicans, and the Russian Orthodox had set up branches in the area and split up the components, artifacts and grimoires as a show of peace and cooperation. The Catholics specialized in artifacts; the Anglicans received the grimoires; the Russians sealed the anomalies of mana flow in the area.

Archbishop Laura Stuart had ordered the grimoires moved and their contents transferred to the Index Librorum Prohibitorum; the originals were destroyed for good measure. Thus, the breach in security at the Fuyuki branch was a mere triviality. However, similar break-ins were reported in the two other churches in the area. There was reason for concern.

_**Anglican Church Headquarters**_

The Archbishop looked like she was only sipping tea in the garden, but she was actually contacting various people in the Magic underground. From what she had gathered so far, the Catholics had undone the seals to one of their Ten Great Artifacts. She herself had ordered the assault on two of those, after the Catholics had aimed to deliberately use them against Academy City. Although she did not trust Aleister Crowley completely, she cooperated with Crowley seeing as one of her trump cards was in the care of one of his. The latter had also helped immensely for securing her faction's position, so she was willing to overlook Crowley's betrayal decades ago.

"The Catholics have so far shown great hostility towards Academy City, and have done all they could to try and destroy it. So why are they transporting it to Mahora Academy, then?" She wondered. Perhaps the Saint had to be mobilized again.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mahora Classroom 3A<strong>_

The classroom was once again filled with various props and costumes. Apparently the Mahora Festival would not be the biggest event for this year; a joint event with the nearby Academy City was in store as well.

Of course, classes did go on, but everyone was already starting to get into the festival mood. "The Holy Grail. The cup used by the Savior during the Last Supper, also the coffer filled with the blood from his side. It is one of the most sought-after artifacts of legend, shaping even the history of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table." Negi Springfield had been reviewing the readings they would be having for English Literature. Having finished Beowulf, they would be moving on to the Medieval Classics, like the Arthurian legends. "It brought not only glory to the righteous, but also ruin to the greedy that wanted it for its power. Only Sir Gawain the Good was deemed worthy to behold it, but even he failed to claim it for his King."

Incidentally, this setting was what his class had planned to present at the Cultural Exchange. "I wonder who they'll pick for King Arthur," he mused.

"Of course you would be playing him, Mr. Negi."

"Ayaka? Eh?" Negi was surprised. He looked at 3A's president with bewilderment; he just didn't understand how he ended up getting involved.

"Only a true Englishman can portray him properly, don't you think?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>The London Clock Tower<strong>_

The Big Ben was not the only notable clock tower in London. Unseen by many was the one right beside it, as forced recognition magic had it concealed from the uninitiated. This magic worked like hypnotism; anyone without a reason to go there would fail to perceive the London Clock Tower.

Here, the study on how humans can tap into mana and create supernatural phenomena is greatly established. Various theories and methods were taught and studied here. In the Old World, it was dwarfed only by the Atlasia Foundation in Egypt and the Magical Research Society of Mahora. It wasn't a formal cabal, given that anyone and any method was welcome.

Here, a young Japanese man in his early twenties trained his method of sorcery. Although Reinforcement and Projection Magic are said to be highly basic and of little true use, this man had developed his own unique use for the two. By combining the projected images of weapons with reinforcement from his knowledge of them, he could use a rare technique which he called Tracing.

This was the most he could do, as he had no inherited talent and was thus no better than an ordinary person in magical potential. This should not be underestimated, as apparently the boy had seen various weapons that no other human in this lifetime has seen.

The boy was now practicing archery, the other skill he could rely on if he was forced to fight. His aim was true; the bull's eye had been hit most of the time. The only time he missed it was when there was absolutely no room left for another arrow.

A girl with black twintails entered the range. "Shirou."

"What's up, Rin?" He set down his bow and proceeded to wipe off his sweat, waiting for whatever news she had come to tell him. Others knew her as his Master in the arts of Sorcery, but they were of the same age, and her mastered Art was different from his.

"Someone broke into the protective churches at Fuyuki. Someone was digging up information regarding the Grail." She looked like she was being somehow nostalgic. Indeed, that had been the reason why he was now on this path. The Grail had changed their lives, and Shirou Emiya's ideals had changed due to that event 3 years ago. At first only Rin Tohsaka was involved, but it didn't take long for him to get caught up in it.

"What do we know so far?" Shirou asked. He was going to prevent tragedy from happening again, even at the cost of his life. However, he was not going to do it blindly this time around. Knowledge and planning was key.

"Have you heard of Mahora City?" She paused, and saw him nod. "Someone's planning to bring the Grail there."

"Using another magical ground now that Fuyuki has been sealed... Would that even work?" The red-haired boy wondered, as the Grail was a special method created by the founders of the Fuyuki cabal for specific use in the area.

"Magic is a formula, Shirou. If all conditions are met, there would not be any reason for it to fail." Rin clicked her tongue. "What in the world would they wish to achieve?"

"I don't know, but we're going to find out." Shirou clenched his right hand, causing a black sword to appear in it. "And I will stop it. For Ilya and Sakura."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Forest Log Cabin - Mahora City<strong>_

A puppet made of wood lay on the table, right beside a few stuffed animals that looked like they came straight out of an emo kid's imagination. There were no strings leading to its limbs, and yet the puppet stood up and paced back and forth, as if testing its own balance.

"Master, it seems I can move again." It seemed the current phenomenon was unusual for the puppet. "And so soon after that festival... Well, not like I care about a sudden spike in ambient mana."

"Chacha Zero, shut up for a moment." Evangeline A.K. McDowell herself was surprised at this development. The blonde girl with a ten year old's body had taken out a bunch of grimoires she had collected. What a millenium's worth of experience didn't cover, a bunch of old books could, she reasoned. Although she was known as the Nos Feratu in these areas, she had been relatively inactive for decades until the Thousand Master sealed her in Mahora City.

She was reading a huge tome which did not suit her current build, but she could care less about appearances - especially in her own residence. This tome was "A Discourse on the Five", authored by a man named Zelretch. She had met that eccentric fellow in England a few years back. Apparently he was an authority on Magic that was fundamentally different from that currently being practiced on this world. These were said to violate all rules that magicians had established from centuries of research.

"Or they could be a glimpse of what Magic was like in the fabled Age of Gods." Evangeline perused the book, taking note of their characteristics. She had a hunch that the current situation could be found within this book's contents.

Although the Five Lost Arts the book talked about were numbered ordinally, she found it strange that the book did not list them in order: Fourth, Second, Fifth, First and Third. Granted, numbers themselves had powerful meanings, she she ignored this for now.

"The Fourth has been lost to man." Now that was just anticlimactic. However, it listed various theories on what it could be; eventually Evangeline clicked her tongue in frustration, but moved on.

"The Second is known as Kaleido. It involves probability quite extensively, as it is an extension of the multitude of possibilities generated by different choices." In other words, it borrowed power from alternate dimensions. "Zelretch himself used this. Interesting, but useless information for now."

"The Fifth is known as Blue. It is held by Japan's Aozaki family, and is unique in that the input and methods are quite normal, but the output is unimaginably great." Evangeline had heard of this, but apparently it was useful only to magicians who did not have great potential. She had met with one Aozaki from the current generation, but this one did not use Blue. She said that unlike her sister, she was of great potential, so she shunned the Art and opted for Puppetry instead.

"The First is the Magic of the Gods: Denial of Nothingness." Like the Fourth, nothing much was known; a lot as inferred, but in the end it was useless.

"The Third is held by the Fuyuki Cabal's Matou, Tohsaka and Einzbern families. It is known as Heaven's Feel." Evangeline knew it; this book did hold the answer.

* * *

><p><em><strong>ITEM's Hideout, Academy City<strong>_

"Mugino, there's some super good news." Saiai Kinuhata had just finished receiving a call from ITEM's benefactor. The 12 year old girl was now talking to a brown haired high schooler. "Apparently we have a job that's super outside the city." She was spunky, given that she was an esper who stood near the top. Saiai Kinuhata, Level 4.

"Oh, so basically we can see the outside this time around?" A blonde high schooler wearing a beret replied. "This is gonna be interesting. I now have to basically get some supplies." She was acting like a rebel; perhaps she had to, as one who stood near the bottom. ITEM's weapons expert, Frenda Seivelun, Level 0.

"Slow down, Frenda. Saiai, give us the details." The girl known as Shizuri Mugino spoke with an air of authority; perhaps this was known to the masses as the arrogance of the elite. Indeed, Mugino was an elite; she is No. 4 among only seven Level 5s.

"Where are we going this time?" a sleepy looking girl in jerseys said. She spoke without confidence, but she was named as the one who could have been No. 8 of the Level 5s. Rikou Takitsubo, Level 4.

"They said this time around it's a super place known as Mahora City."


	3. Imminent

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything is owned by their respective owners. Persons, events and things described herein are works of fiction; any resemblance to real things is a coincidence.

_**The Third Lost Art**_

A Crossover Fic

by: Jennon-Donnon

_**Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City**_

Vatican City was the central point of the Church built upon Simon Peter, the Rock. As the greatest symbol of Roman Catholicism, thousands of people flocked to the city-state daily; this could be as a pilgrimage, or because of plain curiosity as tourists. Either way, the main purpose of their visit was to see the Basilica of Saint Peter, home to the current leader of the Catholics: the Pope.

Matthai Reese, the Pope, was in a state of confusion. This was because his position as the spiritual guide of 1.2 billion Catholics was a mere sinecure. Someone else was behind the scenes. They were using the Church and its massive number of followers and resources for their own strange, mystical goal. And these people, God's Right Seat, had contacted him recently, ordering him to threaten the Magic and Science balance.

At first he didn't believe the Science side was a threat. After all, most of the technology they developed was aimed at making human life more comfortable. Sure, they had nuclear missiles and other weird weapons, but Magic's ultimate defensive spells could nullify those easily. Entire armies could be dealt with using destructive formulae, or Saints. There were also certain forbidden techniques that the Magic side could utilize, like summoning Angels.

His belief was shaken upon hearing of the 0930 incident last week. God's Right Seat member Vento of the Front had overriden the statute of secrecy and launched a solo attack against the city. Channeling the power of Archangel Uriel, she had a form of wind magic and the spell Divine Punishment. With the former, she could launch anti-army attacks with ease; with the latter, anyone who held ill will towards her would be robbed of oxygen and comatized. Divine Punishment could even affect those who merely thought that "the one attacking Academy City should be punished". It should have been enough to rid the world of the leader of the Science Side.

It wasn't. When Vento had recovered enough to talk, she spoke of an Anti-Magician Field that propagated in the city. This had weakened her magic severely. There was also the Imagine Breaker boy which was another reason for her attack; he stopped her instead. And then there was the Angel. It was apparently connected to the Anti-Magician Field, in that getting near it made her condition worse. And it was the most shocking revelation.

The Pope had considered damage control and denial of the attack by calling it one from a rogue faction. It would be best to prepare instead of acting in haste. God's Right Seat utterly denied him of this tactic and went for the opposite. A declaration of war was issued. Now, only the first strike had to be thrown.

"We have other artifacts in the Vault, right?"

The Pope turned his head toward the voice. A thin man wearing green ceremonial robes entered the room. Terra of the Left, God's Right Seat. Archangel Raphael's representative.

"Yes, we do. The C Document is still on standby in Avignon." The Pope sighed. "Are you really going to use the Grail?"

"It is said that the Grail can grant wishes. We have but one wish, don't we?" The Pope's eyes narrowed at this comment. "A wish for the salvation of the world from the blasphemy called Science."

* * *

><p><em><strong>World Tree Plaza, Mahora City<strong>_

Negi Springfield was nervous. A meeting just like this had been called the week prior to the Mahora Festival. The mages of Mahora Academy were all called here, and one could see both students and teachers among their number. Just a week ago they had averted a crisis that threatened the Statute of Secrecy; perhaps something of a similar scale was about to happen this time around?

As they exchanged greetings, they were interrupted by a sudden glow of light. The World Tree, after which the plaza was named for, was a huge, magnificent old tree that stood as high as a 20 storey building. Normally it had a feeling of being ancient and nostalgic, but it seems that the tree glows for a week once a year, at the time of the Mahora Festival. For it to glow now, one could say there was an anomaly.

"Indeed, this glow is anomalous." The ancient Konoemon Konoe entered the scene, but as to how, the mage teachers could only guess. This was a normal occurrence, so they were not surprised at his entrance; it was his words that troubled them. "It is strange for the leylines below the city to be stimulated at this time. If you look closely, the World Tree's glow is somehow different from last week's."

The mages nodded in agreement. While the festival glow seemed benevolent and kind, this one was malicious somehow - as if someone were deliberately pumping ill will into the tree.

"Headmaster, leylines are supposed to be highly specific, so not anyone can use those used by other groups." A male teacher wearing sunglasses put his hands in his pockets as he spoke. "From what I know, the World Tree is linked to the Separationists who did not want to be influenced by a Church. Hence, as a symbol of Mahora's freedom, it should only be linked to those leylines." He brought his right hand up to adjust his sunglasses. "Does this mean someone else diverted a leyline to the Tree?"

"Perhaps, but it will take time to confirm what lines were altered, and which group is doing it. Hence, we need to start patrols to protect the safety of our students." Konoemon then dismissed the mages after assignments were given.

As it turned out, Negi was having his patrol tonight. At least it was after dinner. He sighed, and left for the dormitories, where Konoka had dinner ready.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Shopping District, Academy City<strong>_

Mikoto Misaka was headed for Seventh Mist, the largest mall in Academy City. It held the best collection of fashionable clothes; despite the fact that outside goods were rarely found in the city, internal brands followed the same trends in fashion as the "outside". As such, Mikoto was not bothered if she was going to look out of place in Mahora, because in essence she would fit in pretty well.

As she looked around, she felt a bit uneasy, as if the electricity she naturally emitted was being sucked into a vaccuum. She knew this feeling quite well..._ There!_

A spiky haired high school boy stood in front of the ATM at the end of the corridor. He was pressing the screen with a satisfied look in his face, as if he had won a jackpot prize. He looked ordinary in every way, which was a far cry from his real ability. After all, he was one of very few people that could take Mikoto's Railgun and other attacks head-on.

She approached him. "Hey, you."

"Ah, Misaka." Touma Kamijou finished his business at the machine quickly, as Mikoto's power might interfere with his supplies acquisition. "What is it?"

"You haven't answered my mail."

"Huh? Oh that." He took out his phone and fiddled with it, an absolutely baffled look filling his face. "That's weird, I swear I received it last night..."

"Give me that." She took the phone and pressed some buttons. "Huh? Why do you have my mom's number?" She dialed it and put the phone near her ear.

"Well, I met her and she was drunk, so..."

"You were hitting on my mother when she got drunk?" The call connected. "Hey, mom, how in the world did you two exchange numbers?"

Misuzu Misaka was surprised when she heard her daughter's voice instead of the boy whose name was on the screen. "Ah, Mikoto-chan? Well, I had too much to drink, and one thing led to another..."

As Mikoto chastised her own mother (she was actually angry at how it took an elaborate 'punishment game' idea for her to get his number, when her mother was able to do it on a whim) Touma was standing there scratching his head. He never understood how the two could act like they were mortal enemies when he had seen the genuine concern Misuzu had for Mikoto. The mother had even made the city her enemy that one night, when she wanted to bring Mikoto home, which ended in a high speed rescue by Touma (who got hospitalized yet again). Apparently the higher ups called off the attempt on Misuzu's life when she changed her mind about retrieving her daughter.

_What goes in stays in, huh._ The students of Academy City held its Power Curriculum secrets, so it was easy to see how the City held its monopoly. The Misuzu issue was kept quiet to stop further problems with other parents, and information was kept tightly sealed shut. That incident had shown Touma the City's dark side._ Man, as if getting involved with Magic wasn't enough..._

"Hmph." Mikoto had finished the call. Sparks could be seen over her hair; she really seemed angry. "Whatever. I'll let you to accompany me while shopping now as an apology."

_For getting your mom's number, or for not answering your mail?_Touma wanted to ask, but he didn't push the issue. He sighed, before answering, "fine. I need to buy some clothes, for some cultural exchange thing."

"Eh? You're going too?"

* * *

><p>Shizuri Mugino's phone was ringing. The brown-haired high school girl ignored it. For the fashionable Number 4, shopping for new clothes took priority over answering dumb phone calls. Heck, if it didn't stop soon she might seriously blow the phone up.<p>

The ringing stopped. _Finally, some peace and quiet._Then another person's phone rang. Saiai Kinuhata answered the phone.

"Hello? Oh, Ms Super Benefactor? Mugino's right here." The younger girl passed the phone to her ticked off leader.

"Why don't you pick up? You're always like that. What, did you want me to send your team ITEM off on an all out war with SCHOOL?" The female voice was fuming.

"Oh, cut it. You said it would be a cultural exchange festival thing. Naturally, I don't want to be seen wearing the same things twice. Especially not outside the city."

"Che, you're always like that. Acting all cute doesn't suit the Meltdowner who's only good at destroying things." There was a slight pause at the other end.

"Oh? It isn't like you to stop in the middle of insulting me. Did you finally bite your tongue off?"

"No, it has nothing to do with that." The controller of ITEM was giggling. "Apparently you'll need to meet the other participants of Academy City before meeting your backup team. Of course, as always, you are not supposed to reveal your identity to the others, regardless of how much you want to."

"Wait, you mean other Level 5s will be there?"

This made the controller pause. This was Number 4 of only seven top class espers. Her deductive ability was commendable, if only for her weird tendency to try and prove herself stronger than the others.

"Well, there's the Railgun. She isn't really a secret, right?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Seventh School District, Academy City<strong>_

It was rare for the two Level 5s of Tokiwadai to be seen together. It was even rarer for the two to be seen talking to each other; their respective followers would throw fits if an all out war occurred between the two. Both knew that very well, and right now they were thankful that apart from them, there was no one else from Tokiwadai.

The Ace and the Queen were headed to a place near the famous Windowless Building.

"Hey, didn't you see me at Seventh Mist?" Misaki said with a mischievous wink at the Electromaster.

A shiver ran down Mikoto's spine. Why was Misaki even there?

"Er, no. I was too busy picking clothes..."

"Too busy with your date, you mean?"

"W-what are you talking about?" The electromaster was visibly flustered. BZZZT! Sparks were coming out of Mikoto's hair. "That was an apology from him! It wasn't a date or anything!"

"Oho, so it's true that there was a young gentleman that had a rendezvous with Misaka right outside the Tokiwadai student dorms? Woah," the Queen skipped away as a blast of electricity hit the area she used to be in. "That's dangerous, Mi-sa-ka-"

"Seriously, that idiot shouldn't concern you or anything." The Ace was mumbling as the other girl merely laughed.

"Speaking of that idiot, isn't that him?"

As Mikoto looked to where Misaki pointed, she let out a cough.

She had completely forgotten that he was going too. It would take all the strength she could muster now to prevent Misaki from meeting him and causing tons of misunderstandings.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Southern Plaza, Mahora City<strong>_

A black van the likes of those seen in movies with terrorists and robbers was moving towards the center of the plaza. As it slowed, Takamichi Takahata approached. This was his area of patrol, and suspicious vehicles had to be checked.

He was surprised to see the person sitting in the driver's seat. Aside from the strange Night Vision goggles she wore like swimming goggles, the brown haired girl in was of mere middle school age. She wore the winter clothes of a renowned school in the other City of Education. _Isn't this Tokiwadai Middle School's Uniform?_

He realized that he had forgotten something. The headmaster had told him of this earlier, but he didn't expect a mere girl to be the "advance security team" sent by Academy City.

"Pardon my asking, but are you the security team?" He asked, just to be sure. Who knows if there were spies that would use the information disparity, after all.

"Affirmative, MISAKA states while acting normal as this line of questioning was normal for her."

The girl's expression didn't change at all. _I guess she passes?_

"Well, go ahead. I'm not here to impede with your activities, and I do hope your team could cooperate with mine."

"That would be agreeable, MISAKA says while nodding and opening the lock for the side door."

As the door slid open, Takamichi's mouth went agape with surprise. Inside were more middle school girls. Furthermore, all seven of them looked exactly the same as the driver. _What in the world are they doing there in Academy City?_

"Understood," one of them finally spoke, "this serial number 10032 will supervise the preparations on the scene, MISAKA confirms with the smug expression of someone chosen above the others."

* * *

><p><em><strong>World Tree Plaza, Mahora City<strong>_

"Hey, big bro, are you sure you didn't need backup from that twin-tailed big sis?" Chamo, Negi's ermine familiar, was doubtful. As a magical creature, he instinctively felt feedback from the leylines in the area he was in. Something about the one feeding the World Tree currently was seriously off. It's as if centuries of negativity was being forcefully pushed into a tre that lived off positive energy.

"Chamo, you know this is my duty as a teacher. I'd like to believe I'm capable of doing patrol."

"If you say so. I really don't like the emotions I feel from this glow."

"Emotions?" Negi sounded doubtful. "I thought leylines naturally existed, and mages merely harnessed them in doing magic?"

"Indeed, big bro. It's as natural as creatures having emotions. After all, emotions are a by-product of living humans; they could be converted into magical energy. There was even a theory among us magic creatures on how this energy could be harnessed efficiently. A certain movement, the so-called Incubators, had an idea of putting a miracle/curse system as a stimulant to create a huge surge of emotional energy which they would harness to combat entropy, but I'm pretty sure that's just hogwash." The ermine paused. "Anyway, groups of people could technically possess similar emotions at the same time, right? So these feelings could go back to the planet. As trade routes and emotional gradients exist, this planet converts them into moving energy."

"Emotional gradients?"

"Indeed. Think of two places at war with each other, when one side wins a battle, they are more positive, while the losers are more negative."

"Ah, you mean like electric potential?"

"Exactly. To maintain a balance, the two types of emotional energy tend to move towards each other. It's complicated if you add more groups to the system, but you could say that both find a path through the planet's crust."

Negi and Chamo were resting on a bench in the plaza. As Negi looked up at the tree, he felt the same negativity Chamo was talking about.

"What the-"

Arrows rained on the area around the bench. Negi instinctively raised his staff to create a barrier, but he felt he was too slow. He still thought his permanent barrier could lower the damage, but from the number of projectiles, he wasn't going to get out unhurt.

"Ras tel mascir magister..." He started casting as he felt the last layers of his barrier were being destroyed.

However, even though the chant wasn't finished yet, his staff was already glowing. As he was mesmerised by the light, a voice called out to him within himself.

"Do you wish to be saved?"

"Y-yes... But who are you?"

"Nobody in particular." A tattered brown cloak appeared to shield him from the barrage.

And in that instant, an auburn-haired man appeared in front of him. His eyes brimmed with confidence, and his hair was tied in a ponytail behind him. He broke into a huge grin.

"Yo. The contract is temporarily created. Heroic Servant Caster, at your service."

Negi's mouth opened in surprise. "D-dad?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Astronomy Club Observatory, Mahora City<strong>_

"So that plaza really is a summoning circle," Shirou confirmed to Rin. "And that kid really is a mage, huh."

"Who in their right minds would be carrying a huge staff like that?" Rin replied. "It's like wearing a huge sign announcing that to the world. I mean, the Mahora Branch should be hidden from the mundanes, but that behavior weakens the forced recognition spells. So, Archer, what do you think?"

A man who had a similar face to Shirou nodded. Although he looked similar, his features were sharper and more hardened, and his hair was slicked back. "Looked like some bounded field of sorts. From the dispersion pattern of my arrows' prana, that guy probably summoned a Caster." As he observed his adversary, he shouted, "get down!"

A metal spear materialized in Archer's hand. He tossed it towards a nearby building. Suddenly, a mass of electricity hit the spear. "Tsk, they know where we are. Master, and Shirou, it's best you leave now. I'll hold them off." He noted Rin's reluctance, then he chuckled. "Worry not, a Caster is hardly a match if they have no proper preparation."

CLANG! A golden sword clashed against a wooden staff. Caster and Archer were suddenly on top of another building. "Man, you guys are dangerous," Caster said. "It's hardly fair to attack a mere Master candidate. Aren't you guys gonna try and get a wish in, too, Mr. Archer?"

"My Master and I have the same goal," Archer said as he jumped back a distance, "and that is to prevent this war from starting."

"Too bad. I really need that free wish, ya know?" Caster tossed the staff at Archer, who deflected it with the sword. The sword was then pointed at Caster.

"Excalibur!" Archer's sword caused a large burst of light at Caster. It lasted for ten seconds, and disintegrated a conical area in front of Archer. The light disappeared... So had the mage.

"King Arthur? I thought that guy was blonde and a Saber." Caster was right behind Archer now, the thrown staff back in his hand.

"You'd be surprised." Archer did not move; the mage had the tip of the staff pressed on his back. Any movement could cause his death, and it was better to setup a means of protection against any attack.

"Titanaktonon!" The staff became a lightning spear and shot forward, but it only met air. It crashed straight into the building. The concrete building had a third of its top floor blown into rubble; debris fell down to the streets below.

"Oh man, the damages. Who's going to pay for that?" Archer was right there, in front of the staff. He stood on top of a round, flaming circle. Floating on air was a regular Servant feat, but avoiding an attack like that? Either he moved away and came back, or he vanished in that instant the spear was released.

"Interesting. DEUS TEUKOS!" Caster swung his arm down in an arc, and lightning shortly followed.

The attack was futile. A hammer in Caster's hand had absorbed it, nullifying the attack.

"Thor's hammer?" Caster said in surprise. _Not Arthur, then?_

His opponent merely grinned. "Well, time to fall back. See you around, Thousand Master." Archer faded away, leaving Caster dumbfounded.

The mage shrugged. "Ah, it's been a while since I last heard that title." He glanced at Negi, who had taken cover behind a wall. "That makes two of us... Five more left to be summoned, then."

* * *

><p>Two figures watched the fight from a distance. A robed boy with long red hair lit a cigarette, and took a long drag. Beside him was a tall, shapely girl whose purple hair was tied in a messy ponytail. She had a sheathed long Japanese sword at her side, a nodachi usually wielded by horsemen during the feudal states era.<p>

"With this, the use of the Third Lost Art is confirmed." Stiyl Magnus let out a few puffs of smoke, before dropping the cigarette and crushing it with his foot. "Those two groups could have placed people warding runes before fighting, seriously. This much is already a breach of the Statute. I seriously hate cleaning up after others."

After confirming that the said runes were still in place in the area, Kaori Kanzaki nodded at the tall boy. "Look at that power output. That's at least Saint Class, or they could be using conceptual weapons..."

"Noble Phantasms was what the Archbishop called them. The Heroes' weapons and abilities become crystallized legends and materialize where they manifest."

"In other words, this is a War of Heroes, huh..." Kaori recalled the then-fallen Power of God whom she had fought a few months ago. "They aren't as strong as that Archangel, but we should have plenty of problems dealing with conceptual weapons first hand. Ideas?"

"If you can't beat them, join them." Stiyl was drawing a magical circle on the ground. "One should be enough. With a Saint as the Master, victory is as good as ours."


	4. Intermission

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything is owned by their respective owners. Persons, events and things described herein are works of fiction; any resemblance to real things is a coincidence.

_**The Third Lost Art**_

A Crossover Fic

by: Jennon-Donnon

_**World Tree Plaza, Mahora City**_

Negi Springfield was safe for now. The man who called himself Servant Caster had defended him from the arrow barrage, then set out to retaliate against the attacker.

As he hid behind the wall, the young teacher set to work on recovering his shields. Normal weapons shouldn't have destroyed his defense that easily, and not even a barrage of Sagitta Magica would have created that much damage.

"Just what in the world was that?"

"Big bro, seems like something we should ask the forehead girl."

"You mean... Yue?"

"Her Artifact should be able to give us some answers."

"Alright, we'll ask her tomorrow. Where's that Caster guy?"

In an instant, the man's form materialized in front of Negi and Chamo. He was grinning at the two, as if he seemed quite happy despite Negi's near-death encounter.

"That Archer guy's pretty interesting."

"Archer?" Negi asked. "Is this connected with your name?"

"In more ways than one. Wait, you know nothing about this War?"

Chamo's ears perked up. "Eh, so that's what this is..."

Negi was confused now. Seems the other two knew more than he did.

"Big bro, this is the Holy Grail War. There are a lot of magic rituals and spells that use a 'Caster' element, but only one that uses the 'War' formula."

"You mean... This is a ritual spell to call forth the Holy Grail? And then after that, to use its power to grant a miracle?"

"Simply put, yes." Caster now lost his grin, and he had a serious tone in his voice. "Seven mage Masters contract with a servant each. They then combat each other until only one servant remains. The winning pair can then use the Grail as they wish."

"And... We're one of those pairs, huh."

"The earlier contract was temporary, and more of a means to get me to materialize on this plane. I offer you a formal contract, Negi Springfield, if you agree to help me win this war."

Negi was troubled. Although the man had indeed saved his life, he wasn't too happy about the miracle factor. He had just put a stop to Chao's plan, and he wasn't sure how Caster wanted to use his wish.

"I see, you would like to know how I would use my wish. Unlike Chao Lingshen, I intend to uphold the Statute of Secrecy. I want to use the wish to prevent magic from being revealed in this world."

"You would? And how do you know about Chao?"

"She's my descendant after all." Caster offered his right hand to Negi. "I will use it for that wish, and I lay my life on the line to grant that."

Negi hesitated, but took Caster's hand. "Then... I shall help." 3 symbols appeared on the back of his right hand.

"The contract is sealed. Those symbols are the mark of a Master. My spells are yours to command." Caster vanished, but his voice entered Negi's mind. "I will patrol around you and prevent any further ambushes. You'd better hide those marks to prevent suspicion."

"You sure about this, big bro?"

"I will use my own power to prevent Chao's problems from happening. There is no need for magic to be revealed to the world."

"Heh, seems that Caster guy thinks just like you."

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Certain Student Dormitory, Academy City<strong>_

"Academy City spokesperson Takeshi Minamoto confirmed today about the existence of a rival Esper development program supervised by the Roman Catholic Church, codenamed "MAGIC". Mr. Minamoto claimed that last week's incident was caused by a group of terrorists connected to the program. Damages caused by the attack are estimated to cost 13 billion yen. In response, the Roman Catholic Church has denied the accusations, and denounced the Power Development Curriculum of Academy City as 'the highest form of blasphemy'. In other news..."

A silver-haired nun was watching the evening news on television. Or rather, she was just looking at it while waiting for Magical Powered Kanamin to come on.

A rumble filled the apartment. The nun named Index Librorum Prohibitorum started mumbling.

"I'm hungry. Why isn't Touma back yet?"

Meow! The calico cat purred, as if agreeing with Index.

"Touma..."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Seventh District, Academy City<strong>_

A few dozen students were gathered at the auditorium of the university next to the Windowless Building. Various uniforms could be seen, and for the most part students from the same school sat next to each other. Some groups stood out, though, like a group of four girls in various casual yet generally fashionable clothes seated near the back, and another group of four.

This second group was, by some guy's twisted sense of humor, known in the underworld as GROUP. It consisted of four students who took pleasure in serving the dark side to protect those in the light: Mitsuki Unabara (fake), the Aztec magician; Motoharu Tsuchimikado, the only successful esper-magician hybrid; Awaki Musujime, Level 4 esper and potential Level 5 Teleporter; and Accelerator (one-way road), Academy City's strongest and the No. 1 Level 5.

Normally Accelerator wouldn't bother with going undercover by joining trivial events like cultural exchange festivals. However, something he did last week caused him to incur a debt of just a few billion yen, so he'll have to act as a dog of the city to pay this back. Not like that would change his overall usual pissed off attitude. The albino esper leaned back, and muttered under his breath every now and then... Something about "that brat" and "that bastard".

His companions paid no mind to him, even though the No. 1's presence seemed to cause fear in the other students regardless of whether they new his identity or not. Only Mitsuki seemed to try and dispel the negative atmosphere by smiling awkwardly at everyone else who glanced at them.

"... Would you stop that weird smiling thing." Awaki wasn't wearing her blazer on her shoulders for once; she was wearing her Kirigaoka Girl's School uniform properly. It seems appearances still matter to her for now.

"Nah, it's just that we shouldn't let anyone look at No. 1 too much lest he attack them out of pure spite." Accelerator shot him a look full of bad intent, which made him say, "just kidding."

"Well, this is certainly interesting." Motoharu spoke up finally, after he had scanned the room. "6 Level 5s in one room? And the Imagine Breaker too?"

"Like I give a damn." Accelerator closed his eyes, feigning sleep. He was listening, though; it seemed that the seemingly low Level esper had the best sources of information in the City. He really didn't care about the other Level 5s, but he has heard of the Imagine Breaker: a hand that could negate any supernatural phenomena, even an esper's automatic defence. If that's what that thug had, then it's Jackpot time.

Motoharu knew this of course, so he went on, "I see ITEM and SCHOOL, and some people from Judgement. And it seems Tokiwadai has a few slots for themselves."

* * *

><p>"So, tell me..." Touma Kamijou looked to his left and right. "How did I get into this kind of easily misunderstood situation?"<p>

He would have said misfortunate, but that would be the least of his problems. Touma was sandwiched in between two ladies from Tokiwadai.

He knew the one fuming at his right, the Ace and No. 3 Level 5, Mikoto Misaka the Railgun. Although he thought she was pretty, for a kid, she still had a kid's body after all.

Now, the one on his left was a charmer. She had long blonde hair and sparkling eyes, and her figure was amazing. Touma seriously doubted if she was a middle school student. As he peeked at her from the corner of his eye, she looked straight a him.

"It's nice to meet you, Misaka's boyfriend. My name is Misaki Shokuhou." She held out her right hand for a handshake.

For her to tease Misaka like that, she must be pretty strong. Touma took her hand to shake it, but Mikoto immediately broke their contact.

"He is not my boyfriend." She shot Misaki a look, then looked straight at Touma. "You, why are you touching her like that? Just because you can beat my electricity, doesn't mean you should just touch telepaths like that, you know?"

"Telepath?" Touma looked at the blonde, who was now pouting.

"Now, now, Misaka, that was just rude. And even if I wanted to peek into his mind, I couldn't... Because I just tried earlier."

"Why you!" Sparks started coming out of Mikoto's hair, but Touma immediately started patting her hair.

"Erm, Misaka, calm down please? Lots of people are here, you know?"

Mikoto's face flushed. "... Stop touching me." Touma quickly withdrew his hand.

"Hehe, just kidding." Misaki winked. "I guess you've heard of the title Mental Out?"

"You're... No. 5?" Touma applied his palm to his face. He was in between Tokiwadai's 2 elite espers, and both were pretty girls. This situation was a bit sticky. He prefers older women, after all, but right now, this isn't so bad...

"I didn't catch your name, Mr. boyfriend." The air filled with electricity, but this was dispelled when Touma waved his hand.

"Two things. One, I'm not interested in kids, and two, my name is Touma Kamijou."

"Touma it is, then." Touma could swear Misaki's smile was one of the prettiest he has ever seen his whole life - not that he could remember much of that, but that's not the point.

"First, my mother, then, my schoolmate... Tsk, getting friendly with other girls just like that..." Mikoto muttered.

"Did you say something, Misaka?" Touma asked.

"... Nothing."

"Hate to break your little lovers' spat, but the assembly is about to start." Misaki pointed towards the stage.

* * *

><p>An old man with an elongated cranium walked onstage. Konoemon Konoe scanned the group gathered there, and thought so these are the users of Crowley's format.<p>

"Good evening, Academy City students. I apologize for the short notice, but it seems your Directors had only recently approved of our proposal."

A holographic screen appeared behind Konoemon, and the words "Joint Cultural Exchange Festival" were displayed.

"Mahora City is the cultural paramount, just as Academy City is the place for scientific study. While we believe that focus on those subjects has caused great bounds and leaps in development and discovery, we must remember that in the past, our ancestors had already used some of our methods, albeit with different reasons and motivations."

Pictures of artifacts from excavations appeared on the screen.

"Astronomy and precise calculation of the seasons were well developed even before the advent of computers. Before, they called it the will of the gods; we now call it motion in space."

The screen cleared up.

"However, we have decided that this form of learning would be rather boring or tedious, and a more interesting method could be used."

Video streams of the Mahora Festival were played on the screen. Oohs and aahs could be heard from the audience.

"Mahora City holds a festival every year to showcase the city and its inhabitants, much like your city's Daihaseisai and Ichiniransai festivals."

The video feeds now showed the festival's final event, the Martian Invasion. A number of huge things - demons? - approached the students, who fired back with laser guns. Suddenly, an orange haired girl glided above the students and brought her broadsword

down with a slice. The demons disappeared, and the students cheered.

"We use various props and CG technology to bring a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our students."

The camera feed shifted skywards, where two people were floating on the air. They fired at each other: one shot lightning, the other shot flames. Espers? The students were getting restless, from excitement and confusion.

"These were the highlights of our festival. These should give you a short preview of what you can expect during the weeklong event. I hope you take this chance to enjoy something new and different."

Applause broke out among the students. The old man bowed and vanished from the stage (teleport?), and a teacher entered.

"Announcement: all students involved in the program are exempted from their classes and school events from now unil the end of the festival. As usual, curfew applies within the city. School uniform codes do not apply in Mahora, but special Academy City armbands will be distributed for ease of identification. Judgement students can wear your armbands and assist in peacekeeping efforts."

The teacher paused from reading, and hesitated, before continuing. "Participation in festival events is encouraged. Esper power usage has been granted, but damage must be kept to minimum. Official explanation shall be special technology present in Academy City. That is all, please mingle around for a while, and go straight home after an hour."

* * *

><p><em><strong>London Clock Tower Outpost, Mahora City<strong>_

"Titanoktonon does not exist in spell database." These words appeared everytime Rin Tohsaka tried to research about Caster's spell. By the looks of it, a high powered spell like that would be enough to warrant a listing in the database maintained by the London Clock Tower. It used both technology and magic to store information on various spells, as well as their known users.

"If it's a spell unknown to the current time, that could mean either Caster is from the future, or from the unrecorded past," Shirou Emiya suggested.

"Then he's like Archer? That's possible. Heroic Spirits transcend time and space." Rin had a stern look on her face. "Well, we could at least try to dissect the spell's incantation to determine its origin."

"Ancient Greek. Before the Classical Greek Gods, the Titans ruled the earth." Shirou read further. "The spell could be used to invoke the Thunder God's Titan Slaying Spear."

"That might be true, but Zeus is known to have used the thunderbolt as a weapon. So this spell might just be a homage borrowing a fraction of divine power by channeling the god through an object."

"What about Deus Teukos?"

"Another Greek spell. The Axe of Lightning, also attributed to Zeus."

"... I've never heard of gods being summoned. I know demi-gods are possible, what with Gilgamesh and Heracles last time."

"Master, I sense someone coming." Archer was using telepathy to communicate with them, and his voice resounded in their heads.

"You know what to do. We'll reinforce the barrier and flee if things go badly."

"Understood. You know with this, I can't die that easily."

* * *

><p>The London Clock Tower Outpost acted like an embassy of the Magic Association in Mahora. Since Mahora City was not part of the Association, conflicts of ideals used to occur in the past. However, by entering into a non-aggression pact with Mahora and Atlasia, the big three were now cooperating loosely. Of course there was still the matter of the Churches, but they were more of enforcers than researchers.<p>

Archer was patrolling outside the outpost. Although it was night time, the city wasn't dark due to the numerous street lights and the glowing tree.

The area around Archer had suddenly darkened, as if the shadows everywhere had spread and coagulated into a mass of squirming fury. The killing intent was so thick, Archer had to fight back the urge to wince.

Footsteps seemed to resound to his left, right, front and back. There was no wind, and each clack of the feet seemed to come closer and closer with every moment.

A shadow shot out from behind him, and Archer ducked. He summoned a pair of black and white swords and scissored the shadow, which was surprisingly tough. He couldn't cut it, but he swung at the mass that had condensed there.

Slash. Contact had been made, and a human figure from the condensed area jumped up and away from Archer. It was made entirely of the condensed shadow, save for the plain white featureless mask it wore and the metal blades (scimitars?) it held in its hands.

"Speed and stealth... Tsk, the Assassin has been summoned." His analysis was being sent in real-time to Rin through the telepathic link. "He still seems pretty weak, but I wouldn't want to take any risks."

Archer looked at his opponent's weapons. With his eye of the mind, he could determine a weapon's attributes and history. Something was off though, as if the blades were made with the word ordinary in mind. There was absolutely nothing special about them.

"Who are you?" Archer decided talking would at least cause the shadow to slip some information up.

"I'm just..." The figure crouched, one leg back, as if he were to lunge forward next. His body flickered, and he appeared above Archer. "A killer."

The blades were brought down, and Archer jumped back quickly. The sheer speed Assassin had caused some parts of the front of his robe to tear a bit.

"A killer, huh. Is your name, by any chance, Jack?" Normally, a killer wouldn't become a Heroic Spirit. However, if their activities were directed towards the negative aspects of society, like vigilantes, then it was possible. Jacks the Ripper and Slasher were both notorious for targetting known prostitutes. Archer materialized a crossbow in his right hand.

"I have never used that name, foolish Servant." A bolt came at Assassin, who had a wall to his right; he dodged to his left. Strangely, the bolt changed direction in midair, targetting his chest. A blue glow appeared where his eyes should have been on the mask, and he brought his right hand up and stabbed at the bolt. It disappeared.

"Gae bolg was a spear that struck directly at the heart, but it needs to be thrown first. I guess changing it into a bolt and firing it would weaken the effect."

"Archer." Assassin had determined the role of his opponent. He stood still, nodded, and disappeared with the shadows.

The light returned to the alley, as if the fight never happened. The broken bolt on the ground faded away.

"Assassin has retreated for now." Archer was perplexed. Why was the killer not aiming at his vitals? Jack-class killers were supposed to be efficient doctors, so that's what they would do. However, he still wondered what happened to the Gae bolg bolt he fired. His Broken Phantasms were perfect in that they retained the aspects of the Noble Phantasms they used to be. Somehow, Assassin had reversed the causality effect of the spear-bolt, which converted it into a normal bolt that could be destroyed like that.

For some reason, Assassin's attack was only for reconnaissance. It's as if the Master involved only wanted to test the waters.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Forest Log Cabin, Mahora City<strong>_

Evangeline A.K. McDowell noted down what Assassin had told her. An Archer class servant that uses Gae bolg was unique in the sense that Cu Chulainn, the owner of the weapon, was never known to have used a bow. "If it isn't that guy, it must be someone who can access an archive of legendary weapons."

She paused to consider the possibilities. "Gate of Babylon was only opened to Gilgamesh, and this Archer isn't as cocky as that one, right?"

"Affirmative." The voice of Assassin echoed through her mind. "It seems this guy owns not the true weapons, but the weapons' entire memories."

"So attributes and abilities are projected from his memories, huh." Evangeline grinned. "Sounds like a Faker."

* * *

><p><em><strong>London Clock Tower Outpost, Mahora City<strong>_

"Caster is probably Nagi Springfield, the Thousand Master." Archer walked into the room as Shirou and Rin continued with their research.

"The man who knows a thousand spells?" The title was familiar to Rin. "He was a young mage of such power that he received a Sealing Designation a few years back, but he disappeared from all records; no paper trail, no sightings, nothing."

"So it makes sense, huh." Shirou looked through the database and found an article on the mage. "Checks out, he preferred the elements of light, electricity and wind."

"Any known weaknesses and defeats?" Rin asked. Servants have increased attributes from when they were alive, but that also means that their weaknesses would cause greater damage.

"That's what I was hoping for, but there's..."

"None." Archer answered. "He was known as all powerful and nigh unbeatable. Of course, we have a few tricks that can break those monsters."

"Researching a bit more would help us. Let's look into that Assassin as well, seems like he isn't one of the True ones." Rin and Shirou went back to work as Archer left the room.

"Misaka has finished the reconnaissance and obtained a substantial amount of information, Misaka #10090 reports with a satisfied expression."

"Please report Misaka's findings, Misaka #10032 urges."

"Affirmative, uploading relevant memories to the Network, Misaka #10090 replies."

"..."

All over the world, almost ten thousand Misaka Sisters viewed the newly uploaded video memory. As the feed played, various comments of "sugoi wwww" and "rofl EPIC" were exchanged.

"Misaka would like to say Misaka is amazed at that battle! Misaka says while Misaka wonders how they would compare against Academy City's espers." A younger-sounding voice echoed across the Sisters' minds.

"... Why is the Administrator looking into this matter? Misaka was specifically chosen to head this mission, Misaka states indignantly." Misaka imouto, a.k.a. 10032, hated to lose.

"Oh, is Misaka worried that Misaka will be taking over the current situation? Misaka teases as Misaka sticks out her tongue."

"Rather, the Administrator has suffered much damage in last week's ordeal, and Misaka is just worried, Misaka states with feigned affection."

"Gah! Sarcasm from a subordinate! Misaka exclaims as Misaka gapes her mouth wide open!"

"In any case, tonight's arrival of backup is much appreciated, but it would be best to keep the number of operatives low to keep the mission covert, Misaka says with an image of bowing in gratitude."

"Of course, Misaka understands that. Perhaps it would be best if additional individuals are nearby to serve as an emergency response team? Misaka asks as Misaka tries to be helpful."

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Certain Student Dormitory, Academy City<strong>_

Touma hesitated at the door to his apartment. He had taken advantage of the free bus ride home, courtesy of the festival organizers. This meant two things: one, it was way past dismissal time, so the last bus and train services had been long gone; two, it was way past dinnertime and the freeloader inside his apartment would be hungry and hostile. His scalp throbbed, as if anticipating another bite from the nun Index.

"Nothing I can do to save my scalp, huh," Touma muttered to himself. He opened the door.

"Touma."

"Yes, Index?"

"Watching Magical Powered Kanamin while hungry isn't fun, you know?"

"I did try calling you on the phone, you know."

"You didn't tell me this thing could run out of mana!"

"It's called battery power, and I already taught you how to charge it."

"Ah, whatever! Touma!" CHOMP!

"Such misfortune!"


	5. Intensification

**DISCLAIMER: **Everything is owned by their respective owners. Persons, events and things described herein are works of fiction; any resemblance to real things is a coincidence.

_**The Third Lost Art**_

A Crossover Fic

by: Jennon-Donnon

_**A Certain Student Dormitory, Academy City**_

Touma Kamijou was eating dinner with the freeloading English nun. Earlier, the latter had been chomping his head, and perhaps by now it could be called a habit.

"Anyway, I'm going to stay in Mahora City for a week, so is there some other place you can freeload at?" Touma knew the supervisors of the trip wouldn't allow a supernumerary, and a non resident at that.

"Touma, that's rude. You intend to leave me alone and hungry?"

"You have Sphinx. Anyway, I'll try to ask Ms. Komoe to take care of you for a while, since I doubt you'd survive anywhere else."

"..." Index glared a bit at Touma. "In that case, Touma, you wouldn't need the information that Mahora is a city of Magic."

"... What? I thought it was the City of Culture?"

"I guess linking culture and religions to magical concepts is too much for that puny brain of yours,Touma?" Index smiled proudly, her hands on her waist.

"Well, you have a point. But why would Academy City send Science-minded students to such a place?"

"It's probably politics. With the trouble brewing, I won't be surprised if the London Clock Tower allies with the Catholics. Mahora probably suspects this, and both Mahora and Academy City are in Japan after all. Shared resources and the like."

"London Clock Tower?"

"The Magic Side has 3 prominent types of groups: churches for religious magic, cabals for research and gaining magical power, and we have organizations, whose members team up for the political power and research funding. Currently, the 3 largest organizations are the London Clock Tower, Mahora Magical Research Society, and the Atlasia Foundation in Egypt."

"Wait, if the Clock Tower thing is in London, wouldn't it be under Necessarius? And I thought the Anglicans were friendly with Academy City."

"Touma, isn't it obvious? They would side with the largest magical group in the world because they desire power as well. And they would be much happier if Necessarius wasn't holding them back. After all, the enemy they see is the Science side."

"... Man, what am I getting myself into? Such misfortune."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mahora Classroom 3-A<strong>_

The girls of 3-A hadn't gone back to the dormitories yet, and were all caught up in the upcoming event. Fabric and cardboard were everywhere, and the costumes were starting to shape up. A replica of the Round Table lay half-painted at one corner, as the Library Exploration Club girls had gone off to buy drinks ("gonna get some tomato juice", Yue was saying). Chisame was even helping with the technical side such as light and sounds programming ("it's not like I'm doing this for your sake, teacher," she said). All of them were helping in some way or another, which made their adviser warm and fuzzy inside. Something bothered the boy mage, though.

"Ayaka, how are the preparations for the play?" Negi Springfield had seen the classroom transform again into a props room as his students started making the costumes and equipment that they would need.

"Everything is going as planned, Mr. Negi. Please don't worry too much and do your best at patrol." Ayaka Yukihiro smiled at the boy, but he seemed a bit nervous.

"What about the practices?" Sure, the props would be top-class, but they were worthless without good actors and a well-written script.

"The script is being reviewed by Nodoka and Yue, and as for practice..."

"In short, it's going to be a narrated impromptu play." Chizuru said. "Natsumi was suggesting that it would be better to involve our visitors in it, so that everyone would have fun together."

"Ah! That's great! Can I see the script?"

"Sorry, sir, if you knew what to do, the Academy City actors would be at a disadvantage, won't they?" Ayaka shook her head. "If we let you read it, it can't be called impromptu."

"You have a point..." Negi said with a nod. _But I still feel uneasy about this._

* * *

><p>Setsuna Sakurazaki was sharpening a Western sword. She was more used to single-bladed Japanese swords, like the katana and nodachi, so this sword got her interested. The steel blade had two edges, which brought emphasis to the sharp tip of the sword. <em>So it is more of a piercing and bashing weapon? <em>she thought. _A katana is better suited for slicing and slashing... It won't hurt to try this out. Might even be handy._

The golden hilt had a guard that stuck upwards in a U-shape, with traces of blue designs on it. There was also an engraving on the side. _Excalibur, huh? There were reports in the Eastern Japan Magic Association about the sword's appearance in Japan, and of its destructive capability, and there were retrieval efforts, but the sword itself was never obtained._

Setsuna was surprised at the prop's detail as compared to the reports, but then she remembered that Yue's _Orbis Sensualim Pictus _was one of the materials used for their research.

"As expected of our Library Explorers, huh?" Mana Tatsumiya had come over as well. "Even the sword that was the model for Excalibur was done pretty well." She held up a sword with Caliburn engraved upon it.

"Indeed." Setsuna took a moment to admire the other sword. "How was patrol?"

"There were some stragglers, so I took the opportunity to make them go home." Mana glanced down to her left hip, where a tell-tale bulge told of a hidden M9 pistol.

"... What exactly did you do?" Setsuna said, her expression saying _here we go again._

"Just kidding. There were a few interesting things... Did you know there were some girls from Academy City stationed here already? You can tell it's them from their futuristic goggles."

"Ah yes, I saw the report. Well, they shouldn't be linked to the Magic side, so we don't need to worry about them."

"And then there were eyewitness reports of duels breaking out in alleys."

"Not so strange, delinquents are everywhere after all."

"Said places had residual traces of mana discharge, which pointed to the use of artifacts or historical weapons."

Setsuna was taken aback. No delinquent could have done those. "Alright, my shift is coming up. I'll have some shikigami patrol as well."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Anglican Church, Mahora City<strong>_

A figure stood outside a branch of the Anglican Church in Mahora. Its, or his, blonde hair and blue eyes would stand out anywhere, and he wore a roughly hewn breastplate over leather clothes. He had a sword strapped to his left hip. His eyes darted left and right, but his figure was that of a confident man - if this were ancient times, he would be one of the so-called "heroes".

Suddenly, he drew his sword and slashed the double oak doors, breaking them diagonally, as they fell with a crash, and he strode in with elegant strides.

An magical array activated on the floor below his feet, causing him to stop abruptly. However, he merely took a deep breath, and walked on with a shrug.

"Tsk." A sound came from behind a pillar, and he lifted a pew that could seat 15 people with his left hand and threw it straight at the pillar. Before it could reach, it broke into pieces cleanly, as if it was slashed with a sword.

"Oh." The man smiled a wild grin, and held his sword with both hands.

"Halt, Saber." Another man had entered from a door behind another pillar. He wore full samurai gear, complete with an oni mask. Each step he took thundered through the church. He stood opposite the man he called Saber, and drew a katana. "This Rider will be your opponent."

"Rider? Then you shouldn't be much of a bother, but I'll humor you." A glimmer had entered the swordsman's eye. He took a low stance as the samurai took his. "Although we really should move outside. I'm at a disadvantage in both numbers and battlefield. 3 on 1 at the homecourt? I'd have to decline." He sheathed his sword.

"Then why the dramatic entrance?" The samurai called Rider remained poised.

"Your summoning wasn't particularly stealthy, you know. We could see you from a mile away, which isn't smart in a war like this. This is a challenge from my Master, a duel in an hour at the plaza. Servant on Servant only."

"We appreciate your offer to not destroy this place, but you've already broken our door. Also, what makes you think we won't kill you here and now?"

"Oh, that door?" He took out his sword and stabbed the broken door and pew. Strangely, they returned into their original shape, but small branches with fresh leaves stuck out in odd places. It's as if the sword had made the wood remember what it was to be a tree again, causing regrowth. "Well, if that was all... Brunhild Eiktobel sends her regards to Kanzaki Kaori."

He turned around and walked out nonchalantly, as if nothing unusual had occurred.

"The Valkyrie is here, then." Kaori stood behind Rider. "And that sword looked like the _sword stuck in a tree_, predecessor of King Arthur's _sword stuck in a stone_, Caliburn..."

"Gram, the sword in the tree. Symbol of the Norse hero Siegfried... Tsk, what a troublesome opponent." Stiyl Magnus walked out from behind the pillar at which the pew had been thrown. "Gonna have to use Opila runes to keep civilians out. Better rig that place too, just in case."

"No, I want to fight the Valkyrie fairly."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Mahora World Tree Plaza<strong>_

Kaede Nagase had noticed the brown-haired middle school girl while she was training last night, but she had ignored the out-of-place uniform as another oddity of Mahora. A place that could gather mages, ninjas, vampires, robots and more would not mind an outsider.

She didn't mind the fact that she had seen the same girl this morning on the opposite platform at the train station while headed to school. Or that she saw her when she alighted at her stop, despite the impossible chance of a normal human being able to do that in the 10 minute time frame.

So when she saw not one but two brown-haired girls wearing the out-of-place uniform seated at a bench at the World Tree Plaza, she determined that they were either twins or a ninja with a respectable level of shadow clone technique. Interested, Kaede had taken her post in the shadows to observe the two.

"Misaka would advise against suspicious actions in Misaka's presence, Misaka warns the middle school girl whose appearance doesn't appear as such."

Kaede glanced behind her, and yet another of the brown-haired girls was there. To confirm, she looked at the bench, and indeed the two there looked in her direction.

"Fufufu, nin-nin." Kaede's body melded into the shadows with a "poof" sound.

"!" Misaka 10678 immediately donned her night-vision goggles to search for her. "Hypothesis: suspicious person is using invisibility or illusion projection. Searching for anomalies in the AIM dispersion field... Nothing found. Misaka is perplexed at this turn of events."

"Could it be the rumored 'military clones' of Academy City?" Kaede had ordered her shadow clone to vanish. She was in another shaded area, and the clone's approach was calculated. In fact, she knew that aside from the three, there were two others in the area now looking for her. As she pondered her next actions, another two interesting figures entered her view.

"Mages from the outside, huh?"

"Misaka observes that the area is clear. All units may proceed with patrol as usual, Misaka advises," Misaka 10032 declared through the Network.

However, it wasn't that there was nothing suspicious. It was more of the fact that the suspicious individuals had deliberately tampered with the perception of all uninvolved persons in the area.

Stiyl Magnus had set Opila runes to prevent those who did not have anything to do with magic from being involved in the war.

"This is... Forced Recognition Magic?" Setsuna had arrived in the area after her shikigami had detected anomalies in the area's qi. "No, the scale is much smaller... Ah, a bounded field to prevent interference by mundanes."

She noticed Kaede, and moved towards the ninja.

"Those two are?"

"Mages from the outside. Though I was thinking that should be your jurisdiction, seeing as the female is a Japanese swordswoman as well."

"Wait! That getup... The emphasis on non-symmetry, and that nodachi... Could it be?"

"You know her?"

"Kaori Kanzaki of the Amakusa-Style Remix of Church. She's one of the less than twenty people in the world with the disposition of Saint. A rarity among swordsmasters in that she uses magic instead of qi to augment her already ridiculous abilities."

"Coming from you, that's a lot, eh. She's that strong?"

"There were reports of her fighting an Archangel to a standstill. I don't think I could stand against a one-sided slaughter like that."

"Interesting... Fufu, glad I sticked around. This I gotta see."

* * *

><p>Kaori watched as Stiyl stuck more runes than usual. She made sure the flame magician didn't rig the battlefield, although she did agree to him placing Innocentius in the perimeter.<p>

"Glad you know how to listen." Brunhild Eiktobel sat on top of a branch of the World Tree. Her long blonde hair moved with the wind; her attire was akin to the Viking era depictions of women's armor, complete with a winged headband.

Kaori had fought her before in what was now known as the Gungnir incident. Thus, she knew that this person was not only a Norse Valkyrie, but also a Christian Saint. Both were similar in that Valkyries were blessed by Odin as Saints were blessed by God.

However, her two abilities couldn't coexist. Just like the phases of the moon, the abilities surfaced every 15 days. During the first and last quarters, though, when both were active, she becomes a normal human. This inconvenience had led to her defeat once before.

"That child is safe with us, you know. We could find a way to save him." Kaori appealed to Brunhild's humanity.

"You're just like them, using that child as a hostage. And what, did you think I would lose this time around?" She snapped her fingers.

In an instant, Saber appeared behind Brunhild. The Servant jumped down to face the two Necessarius members.

"Meet Servant Saber. You should know how strong he is by now. This time, I don't need something as troublesome as an incomplete Gungnir or the Final Rune."

"Arrogant as always, Valkyrie." Rider's form rose up from Kaori's shadow. "Servant Rider."

And thus, Servant clashed with Servant, Master clashed with Master.

Although she claimed that she didn't rely on Gungnir this time, Brunhild used a replica anyway. Kaori's Seven Heavens Seven Swords clashed with the spear.

Likewise, Saber and Rider, swords drawn, collided.

Stiyl could only watch in awe. A flame magician like him could do nothing in the face of these inhuman monsters.

* * *

><p>"Traces of the usage of historical artifacts? This is something else entirely!" Setsuna watched as the two groups fought, mouth agape. She could probably manage to barely escape with her life if she fought any one of the four combatants.<p>

"What's this feeling? Something tells me to leave this place." Kaede wrinkled her eyebrows, looking around the area.

"It's a people-warding magic... Probably that tall red-haired guy."

"Oh? Isn't he looking over here right now?"

"Why yes, I am." Stiyl Magnus appeared right in front of them.

"!" Setsuna unsheathed her longsword, but it felt strange. _The guy looks like he's here, but his presence itself hasn't moved._

It might be called _teleportation_ or _instant movement_, but this wasn't the case. As a flame magician, Stiyl could manipulate heat and light as well, so something like creating a mirage was easy.

Hence, he hadn't actually moved, but he could appear to do so anytime he wants.

"I'm suspicious of you two, are you magicians? Only those who know of this side would have resistance to-"

"Opila runes, meant to tell people to redirect their movement to avoid an area. It's rude to call us suspicious, and even worse to do this in our city, outsiders." Setsuna never relaxed from her stance, her sword remained as steady as her resolve. _This guy is an intruder from the Magic side... Hence, those people from the city of Science can't deal with them. Is this one of the so-called extremist groups? If I remember correctly..._

"Tsk. It's best if you don't get in our way, missies." Stiyl raised his right arm, and made a gesture with his ringed fingers. The thumb, index and middle fingers were pointed outwards, and the ring and little fingers folded inwards. "Stiyl Magnus, priest of the 0th Parish of the English Anglican Church. Also, member of Necessarius, the Witch Hunting Division."

"Setsuna Sakurazaki, vassal of the Konoe family, disciple of the God's Cry, Shinmeiryuu Swordsmanship Style." She may not be able to defeat the Saint, but at least she could manage this guy. "Also, one of the protectors of this city's peace."

"_Kenaz (Oh Flame) Purisaz Naubis Gebo (Grant the gift of the giant's suffering)! Ash to Ash, Dust to Dust, SQUEAMISH BLOODY ROOD!_"

A sword of flame formed out of the outstretched fingers of the priest. The image slashed at Setsuna, who dodged anyway.

_It may be an image, but the heat is real!_ The swordswoman nodded at Kaede, who left the scene immediately. They needed to warn the others about the situation.

Setsuna bent both knees and held up her sword horizontally, blade upwards. She focused her qi onto the blade, and pictured a street of cherry blossom trees.

"_Ougi, Hyakuretsu Oukazan_!" A whirlwind of slashes was released, with what seemed like hundreds of cherry blossom petals. The whirlwind and flame sword collided - although the petals burned up, the wind cooled the flames, and attrition eventually caused both phenomena to dissipate.

Setsuna took out a card from her pocket, and held it between two fingers of her left hand. This was an Artifact Pactio Card, born from her contract with Negi Springfield. "_Adeat! Sica Sisicusiro!_"

The card transformed with a flash of light into a smaller sword, which seemed more like a dagger. Now wielding two swords, Setsuna dashed out to Stiyl's original position - only to face another flame sword being shot out at her. She blocked it, and dodged to the left - one of the Valkyrie's flame attacks almost hit her.

_Fighting like this is tough, since the other two battles could get me involved any time... Better hold out until reinforcements arrive._

Kaede rushed towards the 3-A classroom. Apparently their homeroom teacher was still there to look through the final preparations. She had her own Pactio Card held to her head - these things could also be used for telepathy.

_That will have to wait, Mr. Negi. There's a situation at the World Tree Plaza._

_Got it, I'm on my way._

When she saw the boy mage fly out on his staff, she turned around and headed back to the plaza.


End file.
